“But as for Me and My House, We Will Serve YHWH.” - ETF

Inaugural lecture by Prof. Dr. Koert van Bekkum

"But as for Me and My House, We Will Serve YHWH."

JOSHUA 24 AND CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY IN A CONTEXT OF RELIGIOUS PLURALITY

"But as for Me and My House, We Will Serve YHWH."

JOSHUA 24 AND CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY IN A CONTEXT OF RELIGIOUS PLURALITY

- 2021 -

? 2021 Koert van Bekkum, ETF Leuven

All rights reserved.

"But as for Me and My House, We Will Serve YHWH." Joshua 24 and Christian Theology in a Context of Religious Plurality

Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven Sint-Jansbergsesteenweg 97 3001 Leuven, Belgium

Design Left Lane Cover picture ? Ibrahim Dwaikat, wikimedia commons (Tell Batala [ancient Shechem] in the Palestine city Nablus) Photograph Koert van Bekkum Laura Roman Photography

ISBN 978 94 6396 110 3 etf.edu

"But as for Me and My House, We Will Serve YHWH."

JOSHUA 24 AND CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY IN A CONTEXT OF RELIGIOUS PLURALITY

Koert van Bekkum

Presented in a condensed version as the opening lecture and inaugural lecture as Professor of Old Testament, at the official opening of the academic year Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven September 27, 2021

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"But as for Me and My House, We Will Serve YHWH."

Curriculum Vitae

Koert van Bekkum (1970) joined ETF Leuven as associate professor in 2018, became chair of the Department of Old Testament in 2019 and was promoted to professor of Old Testament in October 2020. He studied at the Theological University Kampen, the University of Groningen and the University of Leiden. As research assistant in Old Testament in Kampen, he participated in the archaeological excavation at Tell Megiddo, Israel, and was visiting PhD-student at the Archaeological Institute of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Since 2002 he worked as assistant editor-in-chief of the Nederlands Dagblad, a Christian newspaper in the Netherlands. He returned to academia as assistant professor at the Theological University Kampen in 2012, after having obtained his PhD (highest grade) in 2010 at this university with a dissertation entitled "From Conquest to Coexistence: Ideology and Antiquarian Intent in the Historiography of Israel's Settlement in Canaan" (supervisors: prof. Gert Kwakkel and prof. Ed Noort, Groningen) and still holds an 0,2 fte position in Kampen. Since 2016, he has been doing his academic work as an ordained minister of the Reformed Church (liberated) of Amersfoort-West with a special vocation for theological education and research. With his research concentrating on literary, historical and theological aspects of Genesis to 2 Kings and relating their results to the Christian Tradition and Western society he participates in several international research projects. He also serves as a member of the boards of the Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap in Nederland en Belgi? (OTW) and the Netherlands School for Advanced Studies in Theology and Religion (NOSTER). Koert van Bekkum is married to Alied Veling. Together they have a son and a daughter.

Joshua 24 and Christian Theology in a Context of Religious Plurality

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Summary

One of results of the decline of the domination of Christianity and the increase of plurality of religions and worldviews in present Western societies is that Bible readers come in closer contact with the religious plural backgrounds of the biblical texts. This inaugural lecture takes a look at Joshua 24 and asks for the relevance of the biblical chapter for Christian theology in this context. In highlighting the importance of undivided loyalty and dedication to YHWH as a matter of life and death, Joshua 24 uses the veneration of God by Abram and Jacob as an example. The chapter tells about God's commitment to Israel and his magnificent acts in history. Joshua also warns the people of Israel not to turn to other gods, thus looking into the future of Israel's idolatry in the books of Judges, Samuel and Kings. The way Joshua 24 is connected to other passages in the story from Genesis to 2 Kings is explored by studying patterns of literary connections. The lecture also relates the chapter to its religious historical background as it has come to light in archaeological research at Tell Balata and Mount Ebal. One of the most striking elements of the hermeneutic of Joshua 24 is that it combines an exceptionally serious call for undivided loyalty to YHWH with flexibility and restraint in dealing with a diversity in religious forms. For today, this implies an invitation to look in a curious and appreciative way at the otherness of others. What is God, who is sovereign, doing in the lives of our fellow human beings? At the same time, an approach in line with Joshua 24 diminishes in no way the exclusive claim of religious dedication and undivided loyalty, invites people to be open about their deepest convictions, and presents a criterion for the open interreligious conversation that is increasingly part of modern Western society.

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"But as for Me and My House, We Will Serve YHWH."

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